Page:Abraham Lincoln, A Story and a Play.djvu/28

to travel and to see new sights. While Abraham and his friend Allen were away, they had an exciting adventure. One dark night, after they had drawn the flat boat up to the shore to rest till morning, seven negroes made a sudden attack. They meant to kill the young men, and then steal the cargo of goods.

But Abraham and Allen managed to defend themselves, though they were both hurt before they were able to drive off the negroes and get the boat safely out into the middle of the stream.

The money which Abraham earned at this time seemed a large sum to him. But it could not have been so precious as what came to him the year before when he was plying a ferry at Anderson's Creek. One day two men came hurrying down to the landing and engaged Abraham to carry them and their trunks out into the river to meet a passing steamer.

When the work was done and the men were about to step on board the steamer, each one handed him a half-dollar. He could hardly believe his eyes. He was, for the first time, the owner of a whole dollar, and for a small task which had taken less than half a day! It seemed too good to be true.